by Helmshore Local History Society during the 1960s, Aspin mentions American paratroopers landing on Bull Hill in the autumn of 1941. He also mentions seeing, as a boy, GIs camped near the bullock sheds above Great House, just before D-Day, and the practicing with live ammunition in Alden Valley. Local ghosts Local historian Chris Aspin mentions a number of ghost stories relating to Helmshore. The 1860 rail accident (see above) has led to stories of a ghost train whose whistle has been heard in the Snig Hole area. There's another railway story, relating to a murder in a trackside hut on the disused line between Helmshore and Ramsbottom, close to Irwell Vale. The old railway line The railway that ran through Helmshore was closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching Axe, but relics of the old railway routes remain in and around the village. The Helmshore viaduct, close to the textile museum, is now a footpath. The Ravenshore viaduct has been vandalised but remains a considerable monument to the railway heritage. Remedial work has been done during 2018/19 to the viaducts relating to Sustrans cycle route, known as 'The Scenic Route Branch Line', part the National Cycle Network Route 6. It links Accrington down through Rossendale via Haslingden and Helmshore to Ramsbottom. As part of this work the Snig Hole/Ravenshore footpath has been upgraded. Recent Helmshore has had a second major expansion since the 1970s with the building of a large number of new estates, and infill, often for commuters to Manchester. However, parts of the village—and the surrounding countryside—remain very attractive. Helmshore was the site of the notorious 2016 murder of businesswoman Sadie Hartley. Culture Music In 2001 the American musical group The Factory Incident released an EP entitled Helmshore. Karl Hill, one of the guitarists, named it as a tribute to his late mother, Joyce Bargh Hill, who was born in Haslingden and raised in Helmshore. Helmshore Mills Textile Museum Originally Higher Mill, Helmshore Mills Textile Museum is a water-powered fulling mill and a 19th-century condenser cotton spinning mill, with working machinery. Built by the Turners in 1789, and rescued from dereliction by Derek Pilkington and Chris Aspin in the 1960s, it is now managed by Lancashire County Council Museums Service and details the changes made in textile technology over the last three hundred years through the use of interactive displays. Mill ponds, weirs, sluice gates and